What was Du Fu's life like?

Du Fu is one of the most famous poets in Tang Dynasty and history. He suffered a lot in his life. In particular, the eight-year Anshi Rebellion made him drift from place to place, suffering from human sufferings, and witnessed the sufferings of the broad masses of people. Therefore, Du Fu wrote down the real life of millions of people in Qian Qian at that time, exposing the social turmoil and darkness, thus becoming a mirror reflecting that era.

Du Fu, a native of Gongxian County, Henan Province (now Gongyi, Henan Province), was born in the first year of Tang Ruizong (7 12), younger than the great poet Li Bai 1 1 year. Du Shenyan, a famous poet, is his grandfather and his father is an official, but by Du Fu's time, his family had declined and life was very difficult. Such a bad environment encouraged Du Fu to study hard. He could write poetry at the age of seven and write a good hand at the age of nine. By the age of 14 or 15, he was already able to compose poems and improvise with the literati at that time. Because Du Fu was tempered from an early age, he was very sensible and developed a mature juvenile character. His poems are often pragmatic and concise, and are praised by everyone.

In the 24th year of Kaiyuan (736), Du Fu went to Beijing to take the exam. With his talent, it was not difficult to be admitted, but it was already the traitor Li who was in charge of the state affairs. Li is the most jealous scholar. He didn't want these scholars to be officials to discuss political affairs, so he colluded with the examiner and deceived Tang Xuanzong that none of them was qualified to take the exam.

Then there was a congratulatory letter, saying that no one was admitted, indicating that the emperor was wise and the talents were appointed, and the people did not leave outstanding talents.

Du Fu was very depressed when he saw that his hard work was fruitless, so he left Chang 'an and traveled to Shandong and Henan. At this time, he met the great poet Li Bai. Their personalities are very different, but their common interests and hobbies make them close friends.

Whether traveling in Chang 'an or abroad, Du Fu lived a poor life, and the general public, like him, suffered from cold and hunger. In sharp contrast, those rich and powerful families live a luxurious and decadent life. Seeing this inequality, Du Fu couldn't hold back his inner indignation, so he wrote a famous sentence, "The wine and meat in Zhumen stink, and the road freezes to death", which profoundly exposed the decay and darkness of society.

Du Fu stayed in Chang 'an for a period of time, only to find his wife crying very sadly when he returned home. It turned out that their little son had starved to death because he had nothing to eat. Du Fu was very sad, so he used the poem "Being ashamed of being a father, not eating leads to death" to vividly express his grief of being unable to raise children and being ashamed of being a father.

Soon, due to the excesses of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Yang ran amok and the Anshi Rebellion broke out.

At this time, Du Fu, who has been traveling in Chang 'an for 10 years, just got a small official position. Rebellion broke out everywhere, so he had to take his family and squeeze into the fleeing crowd to escape from Chang 'an together. Du Fu's family went through a lot of hardships and finally found a place to settle down. After a while, Du Fu heard the news of Tang Suzong's accession to the throne in Lingwu and rushed to Tang Suzong. I didn't expect to be caught by the rebels halfway and sent to Chang' an. When they arrived in Chang 'an, the rebels saw that Du Fu didn't look like a big official, so they let him go, but they still wouldn't let him go out of the city.

The rebels burned, killed and looted in Chang 'an, committing all kinds of crimes, and the palace houses were burned to ashes in the fire. Soon spring is coming, and there are green grass and flowers everywhere. Du Fu looked at such a scene of chaos, desolation and decline, thought of the pain of the country being destroyed and the separation of relatives, and wrote the poem "Spring Hope" which is well known to women and children. In summer, Du Fu escaped from Chang 'an. He found that Tang Suzong had gone to Fengxiang (now Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province), so he rushed to Fengxiang to see Tang Suzong. Tang Suzong saw Du Fu's ragged clothes and old hemp shoes on his feet. He took pains to travel long distances and was loyal to the court. He was very appreciative and gave Du Fu 'an a left-handed officer.

Zuo Shiyi is just an admonition officer who gives advice and opinions to the emperor. Du Fu was not really reused, but he did it seriously.

Soon, things happened. At that time, the prime minister was named, and he had a public servant who accepted bribes from others. Tang Suzong knew about it and wanted to get rid of Gui Fang. Du Fu thought that Gui Fang was a very talented person and should not be removed from his post as a minister because of such a trivial matter, so he ascended the throne for Tang Suzong. Tang Suzong looked annoyed and wanted to punish Du Fu. Fortunately, another prime minister, Zhang Gao, came out to intercede for Du Fu and did not punish Du Fu.

Later, Tang Suzong sent Du Fu to Huazhou (now Weinan, Shaanxi) to be a small official in charge of sacrifice and school work. One day, Du Fu returned to Yanzhou to visit relatives and passed Shihao Village (now southeast of Shaanxi County, Henan Province). Because it was late, he went to a poor man's house for the night. He saw the official Rafe with his own eyes and brought an old woman with her grandson. The old woman's three sons went to the front, and two of them were killed. Du Fu was filled with emotion, grief and indignation, so he wrote a poem called Shihao Guan, describing this sad thing. Du Fu wrote six poems when he was in Huazhou, which are collectively called "Three Officials and Three Farewells" (Shi Haoguan, Tongguan Official, Xin 'an Official, Wedding Farewell, Farewell to the Old and Homeless). Because most of his poems describe the sufferings of the people in the Anshi Rebellion, and truly and artistically reflect the process of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline, people have a high opinion of Du Fu's poems, which are called "the history of poetry".

The following year, Du Fu resigned from his post in Iowa. Then, because of the drought in Guanzhong, Du Fu was too poor to go on, so he took his family into exile in Chengdu, Sichuan. With the help of some friends, he built a thatched cottage near Huanhuaxi in the western suburbs of Chengdu and lived a stable life for several years.

Although Du Fu's life was bumpy and he lived a life of poverty and turmoil, he always led an honest and clean life, loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and no matter how poor he was, he would not change his ambition. The most precious thing is that Du Fu has a noble heart. Not only was he not crushed by poverty, but he also didn't complain and complain. He always sincerely cares about every suffering compatriot. The song "Autumn Wind Breaking the Cottage" is a true portrayal of his noble quality.

One day when he was in Sichuan, the roof of his hut was blown off by the wind. In the dark, it was raining cats and dogs, and the wind was blowing wildly. Du Fu was hungry, cold and sad. But what he thinks at this time is: "There are thousands of spacious buildings, which greatly protect all the smiles of the poor people in the world, and the storm is like a calm mountain!" Alas, suddenly seeing this house in front of me, it is enough for me to freeze to death alone. "

These poems say, "How can I get thousands of spacious and sturdy houses, so that all the poor people in the world can live in them with smiles, and they can live comfortably and stably no matter how stormy it is?" Oh, if one day, those poor people's good houses suddenly appear in front of me, then I Du Fu would like to sleep in such a shabby hut and freeze to death! "

This is a noble feeling and a touching quality. Because of this, Du Fu gained the reputation of "Poet Saint".

Later, Du Fu's friends died one after another, and he lost help and dependence, so he had to take his family into exile in the East. In 770, Du Fu, who was poor all his life, died on a boat in Xiangjiang River because of poverty and illness.

After Du Fu arrived in Sichuan, he became a small official, called Yuan Wailang, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and later called him "Du Gongbu".

Today, there is a memorial hall in Chengdu called Du Fu Caotang. That's the place where Du Fu once lived. Later generations preserved it after renovation in memory of this great people's poet.